Zachary Carlsen: “Laptops have killed coffee shops”

Sketched Oct. 29, 2010, 2:37 p.m.
Times business reporter Melissa Allison introduced me to these trendy-looking guys last week at Coffee Fest (Read her report on the event here.)
Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen run Sprudge.com, a popular coffee blog that apparently everyone knows about in Seattle except me.
While she interviewed them, I did my part producing this sketch — color added later in the newsroom.
Carlsen said something that stuck with me: “Laptops have killed coffee shops.”
It’s true, people go to coffee shops to work. Having an espresso is secondary. Some cafes even have meeting rooms.
I’m not sure how you’d change that. Telecommuting from Starbucks probably beats having to show up in the office or working from home.
If coffee shops turn into offices, we are going to need a new kind of “third place” to keep us away from home and work.SketchworthyUncropped version of the sketches on my Moleskine pocket plain notebook.Live tweet photo from Coffee Fest.

About Seattle Sketcher

Gabriel Campanario has been living and drawing in Seattle since '06. He's a Seattle Times artist, founder of Urban Sketchers nonprofit, Spaniard, husband and father. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.